Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Investors Flock To Gene-Editing Tool, Even Though No One Knows Who Owns It Yet
The Wall Street Journal: Breakthrough Gene Technology Attracts Investors Amid Patent Dispute
Last month, Bayer AG opened the doors on a $335 million joint venture with Crispr Therapeutics to develop therapies using a new gene-editing tool. Later this year, rival Editas Medicine Inc. will move into larger digs as it, too, races ahead with a $200 million-plus effort to leverage the gene-editing tool into new drugs. Companies working on this special technology have raised over $600 million since 2013 in venture capital and the public markets, researchers at Montana State University estimated in 2015. (Dockser Marcus and Palazzolo, 9/22)
The Wall Street Journal: Crispr-Cas9 And The Companies Getting On Board – The Numbers
Some of the companies that are racing to develop therapies using the Crispr-Cas9 gene-editing system, without waiting to see who wins a patent dispute. (Dockser Marcus and Palazzolo, 9/22)
Stat: Monsanto Licenses CRISPR Technology To Modify Crops
Agriculture giant Monsanto has licensed CRISPR-Cas9 genome-editing technology from the Broad Institute for use in seed development, the company announced on Thursday, a step that will likely accelerate and simplify the creation of crops that are resistant to drought or have consumer-pleasing properties such as soybean oil with fats as healthy as those in olive oil. But the deal comes with restrictions that speak to the startling power of CRISPR, as well as widespread public anxiety about genetically modified crops: Monsanto cannot use it for gene drive, the controversial technique that can spread a trait through an entire population, with unknown consequences. (Begley, 9/22)
